I Thee Wed
by JennieRyan
Summary: Crutchie and Jennie's wedding is, by all accounts, the best one of the year.


**A/N: Part 3 of my Crutchie and Jennie series, this takes place about 5 months after the previous story in the series.**

 _October 1903_

"It was so kind of you to throw me a bridal shower, Katherine. Thank you."

"Of course, Jennie! It was the least I could do," Katherine smiled, and the other girls who had gathered in the parlor of Jennie's parents' apartment that afternoon nodded and murmured their agreement.

"Are we going to give Jennie our gifts for her now?" Annie O'Malley, one of Jennie's best friends since childhood, asked softly.

"Gifts? Oh, you all shouldn't have. This is too much," Jennie protested, blushing a faint shade of pink.

"Nonsense! The whole point of a bridal shower is that the bridesmaids give the bride gifts," Katherine said, reaching over behind her chair and pulling out a small stack of neatly wrapped boxes. She handed the one on top of the pile to Jennie and set the rest at her feet. "Here. This one is from me."

Jennie carefully unwrapped the box, gasping softly when she saw the delicate pair of pearl earrings resting on tissue paper inside. "Oh, Katherine."

Katherine grinned, clearly pleased at having rendered Jennie speechless. "My mother gave them to me when I turned eighteen, and I thought you might like to wear them as your 'something borrowed'. You don't have to, of course."

"No, I'll be sure to wear them. They're exquisite! Oh, thank you so much, Katherine," Jennie leaned forward and enveloped Katherine in a warm hug, tears of happiness glistening in her eyes.

"Open mine next!" Jennie's 14-year-old sister (who was also serving as the maid of honor) cried suddenly, interrupting the moment. Jennie laughed softly, and quickly took the box Katherine handed her.

"It's lovely! Thank you, Margaret!" Jennie exclaimed as she carefully pulled a light blue ribbon out of the box. "It's my 'something blue'. I'll wear it in my hair."

The rest of the afternoon was quickly passed in this manner, with Jennie's friend Lucy giving her a set of tortoiseshell hair pins for her 'something new', and her friend Elizabeth graciously providing the 'silver sixpence in her shoe'.

"But what about your 'something old'?" Katherine asked once everything had been unwrapped and the tissue paper was scattered across the room like confetti. "I didn't see anyone give you one."

Jennie smiled reassuringly at Katherine. "I'm wearing my mother's wedding dress," she explained. "It's my 'something old'."

"How wonderful!" Katherine remarked. "Well, it looks like you're all set then. This will be the best wedding of the year!"

 _ **-Break-**_

"I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Ya only had one drink last night, ya can't be that hung over!" Race cried in exasperation, and Jack glared at him.

"He means he's nervous, ya idiot." He turned back to Crutchie. "Take a deep breath, kid. This is all going ta go smoothly, I promise."

Crutchie tried following Jack's advice, but he found it just made him feel worse. He began fiddling with his cufflinks, trying anything to get his mind off of what was about to happen.

Crutchie and Jennie were holding their ceremony at Jennie's church, a small place in the center of Manhattan. The pews were already filled with people, Jennie's family and friends on one side and most of the Manhattan newsboys on the other (Crutchie could even see a few boys from Brooklyn mixed in among them).

He sighed heavily, turning back to Jack with a pained look on his face. "How much longer 'till it starts?"

 _ **-Break-**_

Jennie clutched her bouquet tightly as her mother finished tying the blue ribbon in her hair. She hadn't expected to be this nervous, she was _never_ this nervous- "You can look now, darling." Her mother's words interrupted her thoughts.

Jennie slowly walked over to the full-length mirror on the wall of the small room where she was getting ready, and her breath caught when she saw her reflection. The simple white cotton gown was extremely old-fashioned (it had been her grandmother's before it had been her mother's) but it fit her perfectly. Her hair was pulled up into two pendant braids which framed her face, and Katherine's pearl earrings sparkled in her ears.

"Are you ready, Jennie?" her father asked her, holding his arm out to her with a smile. She accepted it without hesitation and smiled back up at him.

"I'm ready."

 _ **-Break-**_

When Crutchie saw Jennie walk up the aisle on her father's arm his heart about burst from happiness, and it was clear from the tears shining on Jennie's cheeks that she felt the same way.

"Hello, miss," Crutchie whispered when Jennie was finally handed off to him. "Fancy seein' you here."

Jennie chuckled wetly, her eyes shining as she gazed at Crutchie. All Crutchie wanted to do right then was take Jennie's hand and run off with her, but there was the ceremony to get through first.

Crutchie hadn't been much of a church-goer since his parents died (and even then he'd been Protestant, not Catholic) but he managed to remember all of the prayers Jennie had taught him correctly. Then, it was time for the vows.

"I, Charles Morris, take you, Jennie Ryan, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part," Crutchie spoke slowly, not wanting to make a mistake on any of the words, but there was deep emotion behind every word.

"I, Jennie Ryan, take you, Charles Morris, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part," Jennie recited back, barely able to control the happiness in her voice. Crutchie had never seen her so emotional, and it moved him significantly.

The rings were then handed to the priest by Jack and Margaret, the priest blessed them, and then Crutchie and Jennie slipped them on the other's finger. Finally, the priest declared "You may kiss the bride."

"You'd better make it a good one, Charlie," Jennie whispered as Crutchie leaned in close, and he laughed softly.

"That's my plan."

 **A/N: It goes without saying that Katherine catches the bouquet at the wedding reception. She and Jack get married 8 months later, in July of 1904.**

 **I'm not Catholic but I have been to a Catholic wedding before, and I used that experience as inspiration for the scenes where they're getting married (I did cut out the Mass though, not all ceremonies include them and I think Crutchie and Jennie would have forgone that since it involves Holy Communion, which Crutchie wouldn't be able to participate in since he wasn't raised Catholic and never had a First Communion).**

 **Please** **review this story and tell me what you thought of it. I'm going to post the next story in the series soon (it's another multi-chapter story, and it involves Crutchie, Jennie, and a baby).**


End file.
